TUCSON, Ariz. — Louisiana St. is ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I pre-season poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.
The Tigers, winners of six national titles, will field its best ball club since 2017 when LSU finished second at the College World Series.
LSU’s last title came 10 seasons ago in 2009. Entering that spring, LSU was also ranked No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball.
Five returning position player starters are back and six superb pitchers.
Plus, key players return after sitting out virtually all last season because of injuries.
RHP Eric Walker (8-2, 3.48 ERA, 78 K in 2017 and a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball) didn’t pitch in 2018 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery in 2017.
Shortstop Josh Smith suffered a stress fracture in his back during the season-opening Notre Dame series last season and only played in six games before he was shut down.
The Tigers have a number of high profile pro prospects, including RHP Zack Hess (7-6, 107 K, 49 BB in 92.6 IP), SS Josh Smith (.281, 5 HR, 16 2B, 48 RBI in 2017), CF Zach Watson (.308, 7 HR, 15 2B, 34 RBI, 14 SB), RF Antoine Duplantis (.328, 2 HR, 13 2B, 48 RBI, 19 SB) and LF Daniel Cabrera (.315, 8 HR, 18 2B, 54 RBI) to name a few.
Plus, LSU landed the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation last fall by Collegiate Baseball with an impressive haul of 16 newcomers that features seven drafted players.
“We should have a very fine ball club in 2019,” said LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri.
“I feel as though we had three separate recruiting classes during the past year. We had our regular recruiting class that was ranked No. 1 in the nation.
“We also were able to bring back Zack Hess, Zach Watson and Antoine Duplantis who were drafted after last season but didn’t sign with pro teams.
“Then we got back two superb players who were injured last season in RHP Eric Walker and SS Josh Smith.
“With all of these players coming together on one team during the past fall, our 2019 ball club reminds me a lot of our 2017 team that finished second at the College World Series to Florida. We have a nice blend of veterans back and new guys.
“Last season, we fought through some key injuries to players, and we showed a lot of character. While we didn’t finish where we wanted to (College World Series), our players gained a lot of confidence and played well at the end of the year.
“We beat three teams in the SEC Tournament that ultimately made it to the College World Series in Arkansas, Florida and Mississippi St.
“Then we went to the Corvallis Regional and were beaten in the championship game by eventual national champion Oregon St.”
The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.
| Rank | Team (Final 2018 Record) | Points |
| 1. | Louisiana St. (39-27) | 496 |
| 2. | Vanderbilt (35-27) | 495 |
| 3. | UCLA (38-21) | 494 |
| 4. | Texas Tech. (45-20) | 491 |
| 5. | Stanford (46-12) | 488 |
| 6. | Florida (49-21) | 487 |
| 7. | Oregon St. (55-12-1) | 485 |
| 8. | North Carolina (44-20) | 482 |
| 9. | Louisville (45-19) | 480 |
| 10. | Florida St. (43-19) | 479 |
| 11. | Mississippi (48-17) | 476 |
| 12. | Coastal Carolina (43-19) | 473 |
| 13. | Georgia (39-21) | 471 |
| 14. | Texas (42-23) | 468 |
| 15. | Clemson (47-16) | 467 |
| 16. | Oklahoma St. (31-26-1) | 464 |
| 17. | Georgia Tech. (31-21) | 462 |
| 18. | Cal. St. Fullerton (36-25) | 460 |
| 19. | Texas Christian (33-23) | 457 |
| 20. | Duke (45-18) | 453 |
| 21. | Baylor (37-21) | 450 |
| 22. | N.C. State (42-18) | 446 |
| 23. | Auburn (43-23) | 445 |
| 24. | Missouri St. (40-17) | 442 |
| 25. | Arkansas (48-21) | 439 |
| 26. | Arizona (34-22) | 437 |
| 27. | Mississippi St. (39-29) | 434 |
| 28. | Minnesota (44-15) | 430 |
| 29. | Texas A&M (40-22) | 428 |
| 30. | Southern Mississippi (44-18) | 427 |
| 31. | Oregon (26-29) | 422 |
| 32. | Connecticut (37-22-1) | 419 |
| 33. | Miami, Fla. (28-26) | 417 |
| 34. | Illinois (33-20) | 411 |
| 35. | East Carolina (44-18) | 409 |
| 36. | Arizona St. (23-32) | 405 |
| 37. | Stetson (48-13) | 403 |
| 38. | Louisiana-Lafayette (34-25) | 399 |
| 39. | Michigan (33-21) | 396 |
| 40. | Sam Houston St. (39-20) | 393 |
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Washington (35-26), South Carolina (37-26), Rice (26-31-2), Virginia (29-25), Oklahoma (38-25), Houston (38-25), California (32-22), Dallas Baptist (42-21), St. John’s (40-17), Louisiana Tech. (39-20), Seton Hall (30-20-1), Southern California (26-28), San Diego St. (39-21), Kentucky (34-22), Long Beach St. (27-30), Nevada (29-24), UNLV (35-24), U.C. Santa Barbara (27-28-1), U.C. Irvine (32-24), Cal. Poly (30-27), Purdue (38-21), Fresno St. (30-24), Iowa (33-20), Kent St. (40-18), West Virginia (29-27), Ball St. (32-26), Indiana (40-19), Samford (37-26), Jacksonville (40-21), Central Florida (35-21), Wichita St. (35-21-1), South Florida (36-22-1), Tulane (25-33), Wake Forest (25-32), Kennesaw St. (25-30), Missouri (34-22), Hartford (26-31), Stony Brook (32-25), Ohio St. (36-24), Nebraska (24-28), Tennessee (29-27), Florida Gulf Coast (32-21), Alabama (27-29), St. Louis (38-20), Virginia Commonwealth (34-23), Butler (34-20), Creighton (34-16), Florida Atlantic (43-19-1), Canisius (35-22), Indiana St. (31-24), Bradley (32-19), Bryant (32-23-1), Morehead St. (37-26), Tennessee Tech. (53-12), Army (37-24), Navy (38-16), N.C. Greensboro (39-15), Southeastern Louisiana (37-22), Northwestern St. (38-24), Oral Roberts (38-20), South Alabama (32-25), Troy (42-21), Texas St. (30-28-1), Pepperdine (31-24), Grand Canyon (33-24), Gonzaga (33-24), San Diego (23-32), New Mexico St. (40-22), San Francisco (28-30), Loyola Marymount (25-30), St. Mary’s (31-23), Brigham Young (22-28), Yale (22-21), High Point (34-22), Campbell (35-26), Winthrop (25-31), Northeastern (36-21), N.C. Wilmington (39-23), Charleston (36-19), Wright St. (39-17), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (26-28). | ||
